Easter lily
Lilium longiflorum · Liliaceae
The pure white, fragrant trumpet lily sold in pots at Easter. Planted outdoors afterwards, it flowers in early summer in later years.
- Size
- 3 ft tall, 12 in wide
- Zones
- 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Late June to mid July
- Pets
- Toxic (severe)
- Job in a bed
- Accent
A bed built around Easter lily
The planner designed this bed around Easter lily when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why Easter lily stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Common thyme × 8, lavender
- 2 Heath aster 'Snow Flurry' × 4, white
- 3 Hyssop 'Blue Boa' × 5, purple
- 4 False sunflower 'Summer Nights' × 3, yellow
- 5 Inkberry 'Gem Box' × 1, dark green leaves
- 6 Wild geranium × 3, pink
- 7 Easter lily × 1, white
- 8 Hyacinth × 12, blue
Why this plant
- The only trumpets. The others are dense clusters, daisies, spires and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
Why here
- At the back. At 3 ft it is seen over common thyme (10 in) in front of it, and has nothing behind it to hide.
- A step in the back row. Next to inkberry 'Gem Box' (2½ ft) and false sunflower 'Summer Nights' (3½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant. An accent is used singly, like a punctuation mark.
Why now
- In flower for four weeks. From late June to mid July.
- Part of the bed's peak. With common thyme, hyssop 'Blue Boa' and false sunflower 'Summer Nights' in late June: 4 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 6 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The scheme leans cool (lavender, purple, pink and blue) and uses yellow for warmth, with white to calm things between them. The back corners are held by hyssop 'Blue Boa' and false sunflower 'Summer Nights', the tallest plants on the plan.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 Good.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where Easter lily goes in a border
At 3 ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium tall (2½ to 3 ft).
Its job: accent. An upright plant used singly, like a punctuation mark, and repeated at intervals to give the bed rhythm.
Do not throw the pot away after Easter: plant it out once frost has passed. It will return to its natural flowering time, around the end of June.
- Giving a gift plant a second life
- White, scented trumpets
- Cut flowers
What to plant with Easter lily
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Cranesbill 'Rozanne': in flower together for four weeks, from late June; grows up in time to hide its dying leaves; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it.
- Catmint 'Walker's Low': in flower together for four weeks, from late June; grows up in time to hide its dying leaves.
- Lady's mantle: in flower together for two weeks, from late June; grows up in time to hide its dying leaves; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about Easter lily
Does Easter lily need sun or shade?
Easter lily grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does Easter lily grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 8. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does Easter lily flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late June to mid July. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 5 | Late June to mid July |
|---|---|
| Zone 6 | Late June to mid July |
| Zone 7 | Late June to mid July |
| Zone 8 | Late June to mid July |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should Easter lily be planted?
10 in (25 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 12 in (30 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 3 ft (90 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many Easter lily plants do I need?
At 10 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 17 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 13 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 55 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one at a time, repeated along the bed at intervals; a slender one reads better as a clump of three.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is Easter lily poisonous to cats?
Yes: severe toxicity to cats. Extremely poisonous to cats: every part, including the pollen and the water from a vase, can cause kidney failure. Not considered poisonous to dogs or people.
It is not recorded as toxic to dogs.
Rated from NC State Extension and the ASPCA. Where references disagree, the more cautious rating is used.
Is there a pet-safe plant like Easter lily?
These come closest to doing what Easter lily does, and no toxicity is recorded for them:
- Peach-leaved bellflower: the same job in a bed, the same flowering time and the same colour; 6 in shorter, fine leaves, not medium.
- Blazing star: the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers mid July to mid August, purple, not white.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat Easter lily?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
What can I plant to hide Easter lily's leaves after it flowers?
A bulb's leaves have to be left to yellow for about six weeks after flowering, to feed next year's flowers. Plant it among perennials that come up late and spread wide, and they grow over the leaves as they fade:
- Catmint 'Walker's Low': 24 in tall and 2½ ft wide, a recorded partner, in flower mid May to mid September.
- Peony: 3 ft tall and 3 ft wide, in flower late May to late June.
- Daylily: 2½ ft tall and 24 in wide, in flower late June to early August.
What does Easter lily look like in winter?
Easter lily is underground: it dies back after flowering and waits as a bulb until spring. Mark where it is, so a fork does not find it first.
Is Easter lily good for bees and butterflies?
Easter lily is visited by pollinators and bees.
More Lilium
- Asiatic lily Lilium (Asiatic hybrids)
- Canada lily Lilium canadense
- Henry's lily Lilium henryi
- Madonna lily Lilium candidum
- Martagon lily Lilium martagon
- Orienpet lily Lilium (Orienpet hybrids)
- Oriental lily Lilium (Oriental hybrids)
- Oriental lily 'Casa Blanca' Lilium 'Casa Blanca'
- Oriental lily 'Stargazer' Lilium 'Stargazer'
- Regal lily Lilium regale
- Tiger lily Lilium lancifolium
- Trumpet lily Lilium (Trumpet hybrids)
- Turk's cap lily Lilium superbum
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Bulb
- Size
- 3 ft (90 cm) tall, 12 in (30 cm) wide
- Plant
- 10 in (25 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium tall (2½ to 3 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Late June to mid July; trumpets; white
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; dark green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Rich, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Liliaceae
- Comes from
- Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines
- Attracts
- Pollinators, bees
Checked against NC State Extension and ASPCA poison lists. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.